Hacking the TiVo, 2nd Edition [Paperback]

William von Hagen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1592004814 | ISBN-13: 978-1592004812 | Publication Date: July 31, 2004 | Edition: 2

You already know the most common uses of your TiVo. Have you ever wondered what makes your TiVo tick-or what kind of performance you could get out of it with just a little tinkering? "Hacking the TiVo®, Second Edition" is here to answer that question! If you're nervous about playing with hardware, relax. You'll learn how to activate secret commands that help you get more out of your TiVo without even opening the box. But if you're feeling adventurous, jump right in and learn how to inexpensively add disk space and how to install and run many open source applications that enable you to schedule recordings over the Web, and get news, sports, and weather displayed on your TiVo screen. Linux®, Macintosh®, and Windows® users will all find TiVo tips and tricks including how to expand your TiVo's storage capacity, back up and restore data, and trouble-shoot your TiVo.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The second edition of the successful "Hacking the TiVo" (1592001114).

About the Author

William von Hagen has been a Unix system administrator since 1982, working on and maintaining computer hardware, operating systems, and system software. In that time, he has worked as a system administrator, systems programmer, software developer, development manager, computing facilities operations manager, writer, documentation manager, and content manager. He has been a Linux fan since 1993, and has used almost every commercial Linux distribution on the x86, PPC, and SPARC platforms. Bill is an established writer, having written three computer books, including "Hacking the TiVo" (Premier Press, 1592001114). He is well-known as an expert on PowerPC Linux systems (such as the TiVo), having written articles and reviews on this subject for Linux Format magazine (UK) and a column on this topic for Maximum Linux magazine. He has written articles for publications including Linux Magazine, Mac Tech Magazine, Mac Home Magazine, Mac Directory, and many others.

Product Details

• Paperback: 568 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology PTR; 2 edition (July 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592004814
• ISBN-13: 978-1592004812
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,189,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not applicable for newer Tivos, November 22, 2004

By 

K. Guthrie - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hacking the TiVo, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

I didn't give this book 2 stars because it's a bad book; overall this is a well-written book that has a lot of good information for earlier Series1 and Series2 Tivos -- specifically those that have software versions 3.0 and lower. There is some info. for software versions 3.1 and 4.0, but the newest Series2 boxes (as of fall of '04) are already up to s/w version 5.3 and no one has figured out how to really hack into those without unsoldering the PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory) chip, reprogramming it and resoldering it onto the motherboard. (Just look at the hacking forums on tivocommunity.com or dealdatabase.com and search for 5.3 or Series2.5) To see what version of software your Tivo has, just go to the Settings & Messages -> System Information screen.
This book does have a good list of the hidden codes that can be entered via the remote control and they work for almost all versions. But if you're looking to really get into the box and have direct access to the hard-drive, etc., that info. is not yet available for the newest Tivos.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars System information, August 10, 2005

By 

Buzz Buzzard (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hacking the TiVo, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

The current, non-DirecTV system, updated by satellite, is actually 7.1 (as of 9 August 2005). I haven't found that any of the hacking books are especialy useful for Series 2 boxes, especially as the software upgrades.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars DirecTV Tivo System-2 software Updates - now 6.1, August 1, 2005

By 

Stephen T. Gaydos "Steve in Phoenix" (Phoenix AZ, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hacking the TiVo, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

While this book contains some useful information for older Tivo boxes, the Series-2 has been Upgraded automatically by the Satellite to an even higher version. While the other reviewer, recently written, says it's now 5.3 and nobody has figured it out without actually tweaking hardware and reinstalling the chip (definately NOT recommended), the Software has already been upgraded again. As of now, 8/1/05, it is Version 6.1.